Dani Carvajal’s contract at Real Madrid expires in 2025.
Getty Images
Real Madrid still have their biggest challenge of the season ahead of them when they take on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final, but they are also looking to the future. In one case in particular, this relates to the man who could win his record sixth Champions League title on June 1; Dani Carvajal.
Relevo claims that Real Madrid are considering giving the right-back an extension to his contract, which would tie his future up until at least 2026, and possibly longer.
The right-back’s current contract is set to expire in the summer of 2025, meaning he will enter the 2024/25 campaign with just 12 months remaining on his current deal unless he signs an extension before then.
It is not uncommon for Los Blancos to extend the contracts of key players, but in this case it violates the norms. This is because most of the team’s veterans over the age of 30 are left to negotiate their contracts in the final 12 months, as is currently the case with key players such as Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
However, Carvajal could do all of that much earlier, and the Relevo report even claims that the club could break with their own policy and give him a two-year extension until 2027, which would see him stay at the club until the age of 35.
Carvajal’s impressive physique
One reason for this could be Carvajal’s excellent fitness, which has allowed him to reach the final stages of the 2023/24 campaign in excellent form and top shape. The Spanish international has performed better as the season has progressed and now he looks in great form to play against Dortmund in London.
Many feared Carvajal’s career was coming to an end after he missed 53 games through injury during the 2020/21 campaign, but he has been relatively injury-free since then and has fully regained his fitness. This season, he has only missed two games through injury, while in 2022/23 he missed five games.
“I asked for help from a nutritionist, a coach and completely removed gluten from my diet,” he said in an interview with Universo Valdano. “I think it’s all about the body and the mind, injuries don’t happen for the same reason. When it came to the semi-finals or finals of the Champions League, a big part of me was getting injured. I’ve been injured in two finals and two semi-finals, and of course the psychological factor can be important. In 2021 I barely played 12 games, falling sick again and again… a tunnel I couldn’t see a way out of. I completely removed gluten from my diet, I’m not intolerant, but it causes inflammation, everything has changed since then.”
With time and age on his side, Carlo Ancelotti now has the chance to bring in a young, long-term replacement, with the knowledge that Carvajal’s minutes will need to be managed. For now, and possibly for 2024/25, this involves relying on Carvajal and his deputy Lucas Vazquez, who is expected to extend his contract which is due to expire this summer, while the club considers long-term options.
Hope to become the captain of the club in near future
With club captain Nacho likely to leave when his contract expires, Dani Carvajal is best placed to become the club’s official vice-captain. Based on his time at the club, the captaincy will be passed to Luka Modric, who can leave when his contract expires this summer unless a deal is struck before June 30.
In any case, Carvajal will captain the side regularly, as Modric has only started 23 of the team’s 53 games this season. Like Karim Benzema, who was Marcelo’s deputy in his last season, Carvajal will captain for several games, as he has done on 12 occasions this season while they are third in the rankings.
Modric is unlikely to remain at the club for another season even if he eventually agrees to stay at the club until 2024/25, but Carvajal would inherit the captaincy outright. It would complete an impressive journey for the boy who was chosen to bury a time capsule at the club’s Valdebebas training ground at the club’s inauguration in 2004, when he was just 12 years old.
